Pecs Varosa. Fünfkirchen.

Title

Pecs Varosa. Fünfkirchen.

Very nice hand-colored overall view of the city of Pécs (German: Five Churches) with figurative staffage in the foreground. After Ludwig Rohbock (1820–1883).

ca. 1870

Artist

Kurz

Historical Description

Fünfkirchen (Hungarian: Pécs) is one of the oldest and most historically significant cities in Hungary, located in the south of the country near the Croatian border. The name "Fünfkirchen" ("Five Churches") likely derives from five churches that stood here during the Middle Ages. In 1367, the first Hungarian university was founded in Pécs by King Louis the Great. The city was under Ottoman rule for almost 150 years. Several mosques from this period still remain, such as the Mosque of Pasha Gazi Kassim, which today functions as a Catholic church with an oriental-style dome. After being recaptured by the Habsburgs in 1686, Fünfkirchen once again became a Catholic stronghold and developed into an important administrative and educational center in Transdanubia. The region was also mapped as part of the Josephinian Land Survey. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Pécs evolved into an industrial and cultural center—especially known for mining, the Zsolnay ceramics industry, and a significant ethnic German minority.